Nicole Moriarty, Tallahassee, FL. I’m white and I’ve been living in the south for about 5 years and this crazy thing continually happens to me: white people see the color of my skin and assume, wrongly, that I harbor the same ignorance and racism that they do. Don’t get me wrong, I’m aware of my […]

Katie, USA. My family is proudly multicultural and many shades of brown, from my pinky-beige to my cousins’ deep cocoa tones. In the past year I have been accused of being racist more times than I can count. When I ask why they would say that the answer is always the same, “You’re white, all […]

Brad Crump, Floral Park, NY. As a Presbyterian Pastor I serve a diverse congregation (Guyanese, Jamaican, Black, White). As a teacher I work for a Middle School in Springfield Gardens (97% non white). While I spend every day serving the diverse cornucopia of NYC I am seen by many as the problem, the privilege, the […]

Johnny Boyd Blue Springs, MO. Sometimes I catch myself thinking things about people, or making judgements, based on their race or appearance. I know it’s wrong, but I learned to see differences at an early age.

Jenna, USA. Every culture or race seems to have this deep inter connection with their skin color and culture and heritage. People seem to embrace their ‘uniqueness’ and take pride of where they are from and who they are. I am white. I am proud to be white. But why do those words sound so […]

Roxanne Darling, Haiku, HI. It’s my personal belief that it’s incredibly challenging to not be racist, regardless of one’s race. Not wanting to be, think, or act racist is not the same as not being racist. So I hereby present myself as a work in progress, as I unplug decades (centuries?) of neurological programming that […]

Michael Havis, Brooklyn, NY. I think the word racism no longer defines the conversation we should be having. The image of racism in America is of the KKK or southern slave owners with whips. Being racist and being a good person are not mutually exclusive. Racism today isn’t being a part of lynch mobs or […]

Michael Bowser, Baltimore, MD. I found that there is no time in my day to hate or dislike another human being, regardless of race, color, or creed. I believe this behavior is instilled in many through others at a young age, and before the individual has the opportunity to make rational decisions for themselves.

Nicholas Thomspon, Denton, TX. We discussed racism in my freshman sociology class. “Institutions are racist” is not an original thought of mine, but I do fundamentally agree with the idea from a sociological perspective.

Tim Brown, Millington, TN. I grew up in a very large Southern white family of absolutely insufferable racists. While researching our family’s genealogy, a cousin of mine found that the US Census listed many of our not-so-distant ancestors as “mulatto”, a term generally reserved to describe people who were half white and half black. We […]

Sean, CT. I’m not proud to be white, because there’s so many different kinds of white and I’m not proud of my skin color, I’m proud of my culture. Sunday dinners. Seafood. Irish bread. That’s what I identify with, not the color of my skin. And to call me racist for that is complete shi*.

Aidan O’Connor Grand Rapids, MI People can be raised up to be rasist but no one starts their life doing it. Rasism is not even a thing when you are born, you don’t even know what it is. Being racist is a choice you make. If you chose to be racist it is the wrong […]

Michelle K. Chicago, IL Racist men who are interested in me solely for their “yellow fever”: my skin is not your accessory. Racist people who want to befriend me solely because they “loooove” my culture: my skin is not your accessory. Racist people who think being Asian is all about KPop and “kawaii”: my skin […]

Jann Patterson Hayden, ID The major bad things that have happened to me were because of black people. I was mugged by a group of black teens and my son had a gun held to his head at work by a pair of black thieves. I am afraid of black people that I don’t know […]

P Morehead City, NC I am a white female and I am not racist at all. But sometimes I find myself with thoughts or fears that feel a little racist. Where is this coming from? I don’t want to have those thoughts or fears about other people because of their race. That is wrong.

Jo Pembroke, NC Why call me racist because im white and believe in traditional values… i feel its not fair I can help what people did before my time. if so shouldn’t black Americans hate Africans for selling them to European traders also??

Dominique Peranich Half Moon Bay, CA Everyone, whether they admit it or not, is racist. People may not realize this, but due to stereotypes, bias, and where someone may have grown up, they may feel a discomfort or distrust towards other people of a different race or background. For instance, many people when stuck driving […]

Jake Skillman Greenfield, IN Even as a small child I loved diversity, insisting on going to Korean school on Saturdays with my friends, checking out language books in Romanian, Japanese, Spanish and even Swahili. It’s crazy, because I grew up on a country farm, living in a trailer. Some how that automatically made me a […]

Cynthia McCullough Port Orchard, WA Race studies student. Americans seem to think that being colorblind is a solution when in fact it is a tool to maintain White supremacy. The colorblind mentality is the denial of the history of people of color and supports the institutional racism deeply embedded in American culture as many can […]

Connor Eaton New York, NY In New York, people of all races live together. But people of all races all have their own thoughts on all the other races. This is nothing special. What is special is that it is culturally acceptable for any race to say whatever they want about any race, EXCEPT for […]

BC Memphis, TN I’m not saying racism is okay, but we need to stop trying to find the culprit and the victim. Everyone experiences being stereotyped by their race, and everyone stereotypes other people by their race. I am tired of people telling me that because I’m white I am the cause of racism. I […]

Skyler MI I come from a small town that is heavily populated by Mexicans so I was never really exposed to other races like Caucasians, Blacks, Asians, or any other race besides Mexican. It was very rare to see any other race and if I did see other races it was when I would go […]

Rev. Kathy Bird DeYoung, Aurora, CO. I was raised in metro Detroit in one of the white northern suburbs. Now I live in the most integrated city in the nation, Aurora, Colorado. My city of origin is more integrated now, thankfully. But, I still wouldn’t want to return. I’m frustrated by this new ethic where […]

Joe Mallahan Seattle, WA As a white man raised in the United States, I have, by no choice of my own, indelible racist perspectives ingrained in me. While my logic and my civic values reject this racism, it doesn’t change the fact that my brain clicks to a different place when I’m interacting with an […]

Chanel Tate South Holland, IL This is something my African-American mom would say to me all the time when I was a kid and I called her out on saying something derogatory or stereotypical about other races. She’s dead now and it’s harder and harder for me to remember the sound of her voice, much […]

Joan Maxwell Chicago, IL This happened to me in college in 1971. I was an education major, and a black student spoke to our Philosophy of Education class. He asked the students to raise their hands if they felt they were not racist. I raised my hand. I was the only one who raised my […]

Sam Canada I have absolutely no problems with the different kinds of cultures that are now migrating into Canada and the Americas. I think hearing stories and traditions from friends and strangers about their cultures, religions and ethnical backgrounds is intriguing, and makes the world a much more exciting complex place. HOWEVER. What I don’t […]

Josh Raymond Studio City, CA Despite what people say, or the balances of social power, I was born white and am continually judged on that. People make assumptions based on my skin color and like any other victim of racism I can’t change who I am or the color of my skin. There is no […]

Eileen Jacobowitz Sacramento, CA I’m more likely to feel more comfortable around a person who is of a similar education/income level, regardless of their skin color. I’m not proud of this, but it’s true.

Lynn Lomibao Los Angeles, CA To clarify, my statement isn’t intended to create further divisions among “people of color” or to point the finger or to say that white folks aren’t racist. My point is to acknowledge that people of color can be racist, too. Case in point: I learned that people see me differently […]

Chuck Aston Hedgesville, WV I’m a university educated white male raised in a small New England town in the mid-50s. Races mingled in school and socially without friction. I served with black military personnel in the 60s and worked with and managed black personnel in the 70s without race issues. My attitude has sadly and […]

Rhonda Cavanaugh Normandy Park, WA My statement reflects how I feel when I don’t understand and ask questions of those who are further along in the antil racist work that we all do. I grew up in a white area but always managed to have friends of color. I didn’t always understand where they were […]

Beth Secor Houston, TX This situation I am going to describe happens to me relatively frequently. Another white person, more often than not a stranger or someone I know in passing, will make the assumption that because I also am white, that I too share their racist views. This other white person will lean toward […]

Ashton Aikens Columbus, OH Have you ever noticed the racism is a learned behavior. Think about it if your raised and see everyone being treated the same and never look at a person’s skin this is how you view the world, were as if your shown that a person with a.different skin tone is inferior […]

Lily Cohen New York, NY I wasn’t born racist. My parents didn’t raise me to be racist. For the first twelve years of my life I was not racist. It all changed after my parents had to move to a Black area, and I had to attend a Black school. Needless to say, I didn’t […]

Mary Leslie Tappahannock, VA I’m not racist, I don’t want to kill or torment people because they aren’t white like me. My mother taught me not to use the “N” word. But that isn’t a complete truth about racism. My mother taught me not to use that word by yelling at me to Never Ever […]

Lyn M. Anton Buffalo, NY Born in 1954, I grew up in a very small, very white town in the North. Obviously, these were turbulent times in many ways. I believe it was 1959 when the NYS Board of Education sent a young, Black woman to our school district as a speech therapist. Now, amongst […]

Robert C. Reynolds Sapulpa, OK The media wants so badly to play the poor little innocent boy card for young Blacks who meet violent ends, but they blithely ignore evidence that speaks otherwise, all for ratings.

Taryn Tulsa, OK Being white in Oklahoma for the last 15 years is annoying sometimes. I grew up in a very tolerant family in CT then CA and was the minority in a mainly black neighborhood. My first boyfriend and love was black. all my friends were black. I was actually racist against white people. […]

Elizabeth Ragad Covington, LA I’m so tired of Black people pulling the race card when things aren’t going there way. And YES there are racist Black people too! It’s NOT just a “White Thing”. White people do not hold a monopoly on racism. All races have good, bad, rich, poor, kind, cruel, loving, hateful, selfless […]

Nixi Chesnavich Pittsburgh, PA I was raised by a racist. My grandfather had a bias against everyone who wasn’t exactly like him. Even as a young child, I could see that the stereotypes he tried to instill in me were simplistic and dehumanizing. I chose not to hate. I chose to see all people as […]

Olga Kazakova Oakland, CA I was robbed at a gun point by two black men a couple of years ago. Now when I see black men walking towards me and no people around I cross the street. Does it make me a racist? I live in a very beautiful, diverse but high crime city.

Lauren L. Long Island, NY I notice that there are an overwhelming number of white people who refuse to accept that they have racial biases. This is certainly NOT the case with every white person out there at all, just to be clear. But when a black person says something about race, they immediately want […]

David Monestero Upland, CA I do not consider myself a racist person. I go through my day to day feeling like everyone is created equil no matter what. I think anyone that walks around with a constant chip on their shoulder feeling like the whole world owes them something will always have issues that are […]

Thomas Hei Newcastle, WA It doesn’t matter if one uses the N-word maliciously or benignly not intending to harm, it can still be racist. If I accidentally hit someone in my car, I am still held accountable.

Ethan Pickering Washington, DC …a drink. Because he stumbled into the bar hammered. But he was Salvadoran and I am white. Nevermind that I was speaking to him in Spanish (NOT my first language). Nevermind that I was conversing with other Spanish speakers who were drinking–some who were drunk–at the bar. Nevermind that nobody else […]

Robert C. Reynolds Sapulpa, OK All races and societies have racist individuals. Yet because I am caucasian, I feel I am singled out, profiled as a racist by non-whites, merely because of my appearance. That is as wrong as any profiling of hoodie-wearing black youth as up to no good. Who speaks up on my […]

Ken Hutchison USA Martin felt disrespected, indignant, and incensed that somebody was following him. He saw that the follower was overweight and flabby, so he did not feel threatened. He was an athlete who was skilled at martial arts, and he did not like being disrespected. He knew that he could beat up the follower […]

Kenna Hensen Philadelphia, PA I’m so ashamed to say I have racist thoughts. I grew up in a small suburban town believing that no matter your ethnicity, racist remarks where never appropriate. I moved into a large urban city 5 years ago and found my thoughts and feelings on racism being altered by my experience […]

Al Atlanta, GA I was born 51 years ago. I grew up with a father who would definitely be considered racist today, but was probably just typical blue collar in those days – kind of an Archie Bunker figure. I heard the N word at least a dozen times a week. Fast forward to my […]

Carstens Smith Minneapolis, MN I quickly learned in the 80s, when my employer mandated attendance on race and diversity, to stay very, very quiet. My comments, questions, and any opinions were met with “Well, you’re white so you don’t understand…” So despite the assumption by some that I am so privileged and racist that I […]

Pia Knittle Flagstaff, AZ I don’t want to be stereotyped as a racist just because I am Caucasian. I believe that only through open-mindedness, tolerance, and communication can we make this a better place. We should focus on dialogue and this might be a good place to start.

Bobbie Virginia Beach, VA I have so many confused thoughts about race. If everyone around me is white, and I’m white, what else should I be used to? The first time I saw a black adult, I felt the same as I think you would feel if you saw a green or blue person. I […]

Christy Berger San Francisco, CA Being non racist in our day to day lives is great, but it is not the same as being anti racist. We need to start with the former in many cases, but our challenge is to not lose sight of the latter.

Marianna Boncek Woodstock, NY I am a high school teacher. I have been accused of being a racist so many times I can’t count. I am not a racist, nor have I ever been. I actually have a multi-racial family by marriage. The first time a student accused me of being a racist I was […]

Drew Mills Greenville, IN I grew up in a tiny town in Kentucky where black people lived in another part of town, always. Although I don’t think of myself as racist, and I’ve had black friends and; colleagues, and church brothers, I still see black people as black and not as just people. I can’t […]

Jackson Macdonald Burlington, VT Although I am white i got to a school that is split almost evenly white and black. We are a very diverse school. However I feel whenever I make a comment to a black student or a student of any other race I’m told I’m a racist. I don’t try to […]

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